Strawberry Ice Cream
by Tsuki-no-Kurokage
Summary: Hitsugaya never realised how ice-cream means so much to him. IchiHitsu ::now a threeshot::
1. Strawberry Ice Cream

Strawberry Ice-cream

Author's Note: This is my first attempt at shounen ai. Please give some feedback about it. I accept flames and constructive criticisms. I got my inspiration from drawing a picture of Hitsugaya eating ice-cream. Then I twisted it and it became a fanfic in the end. XD

Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for the plot. This takes place during Bleach 116, at night, and after Hitsugaya and Matsumoto went to stay at Orihime's, but before the fight with Shawlong and the other Arrancars.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The familiar cry sounded throughout Karakura City that night. The ever vigilant Chappy-lover slid the door to the closet open and jumped out of her bed, landing on the floor with a soft thud. She picked up her slipper and tossed it at the sleeping orange-haired shinigami substitute to wake him up. She didn't want to alert the rest of Ichigo's family so she decided not to yell and scream at him. However, the slipper method didn't seem to work so she edged closer to him and gave him a kick on his back which was facing her. "Ichigo!" Rukia spoke in a loud whisper. "Ichigo!"

"…Five more minutes, Mom…" She heard him mumble before he pulled the blanket over his head to block out the noise.

"Dammit…" Rukia cursed under her breath as she checked her mobile phone for the hollow's position. The signal beeped for a while before it died down, and the indication of the hollow faded away. "That's strange…" Rukia mumbled, folding back her phone. "Maybe Renji or someone else disposed of the hollow before I could even get there…Oh well," Rukia shrugged as she walked back calmly to her 'room', closing the door in the process.

**＜ブリーチ＞**

Hitsugaya Toushirou hopped from roof to roof as he tried looking for the way back to Orihime's rooftop. Sheathing Hyourinmaru, the latter sighed as his mind trailed back to when his mobile started beeping. That lazy buxom strawberry blonde of a fukutaichou was too busy eating with the orange-haired ryoka girl to even pay attention to the incoming reiatsu clearly belonging to a hollow, so Hitsugaya got stuck with the eliminating job. Again.

As the faint moon glow shone upon his figure, leaving a trail of his silhouette following him, Hitsugaya finally reached where he left his gigai and slipped into it, spitting the rikongan out. He lied down on the tiles of the roof, ready to succumb into a well-earned good night's sleep when he heard two simultaneous squeals for joy as they dug into their food that Orihime had specially prepared. At first, Hitsugaya wanted to block out the insane noise by trying to get to sleep, but as time passed by, he felt himself getting hungrier and hungrier to the extent that his stomach growled. Blushing a little out of embarrassment, he could hear Hyourinmaru's amused chuckle at the back of his head.

"_What're you __**laughing **__at?" Hitsugaya scowled._

"_At the fact that you're actually feeling hungry," Hyourinmaru replied truthfully._

"_Shut up, Hyourinmaru. It's no surprise since I didn't have anything to eat since…" Hitsugaya blinked twice in rapid motion as soon as he realized when the last time he actually had a good meal. "…since…last week…" he mumbled the last bit under his breath, but the dragon heard it all the same, triggering another light-hearted chuckle from the dragon. "Perhaps I __**should **__eat something…"_

"_How about those candies Ukitake gave you?" Hyourinmaru suggested wrongly._

"_Eww. No." Hitsugaya made a disgusted look as he opposed to the idea. "I might just throw up from the high sugar level."_

"_You haven't even tried them. How do you even know they're too sweet for you?"_

"_From the word 'sweets', Hyourinmaru. Obviously, if they weren't sweet, why else would they be called 'sweets'?" Hitsugaya stated the fact._

"_Let's try something else then." Hyourinmaru paused to think up a list of food to suggest to the young captain. Humming a little tune as he did so, Hyourinmaru finally found something. "Ah. How about some human food? After all, it's been quite some time since you came to the material world. Why don't you try out their style of food? It __**could **__be quite informative."_

"_Hmm…What do you suggest?"_

"…_I think I heard something about stir-fried fish."_

"_I hate fish."_

"…_How about chicken wings?"_

"_Yuck."_

"_Mashed potatoes?"_

"_I'm not a potato fan, Hyourinmaru."_

"_Duck rice?"_

"_No."_

"_Sushi?"_

"_I practically eat that every day in Soul Society."_

"_Sashimi?"_

"_And that too."_

"_Ah, I know, how about-?"_

_Hitsugaya was unwilling to let his zanpakutou speak any further. "No."_

_Hyourinmaru got quite put off by Hitsugaya's sudden rudeness. "I haven't even finished-"_

"_I already know that whatever you're going to suggest is not going to be very palatable."_

"_All I wanted to say is for you to just try out some ice-cream."_

_That got Hitsugaya's attention going. "Ice-cream? What's that?" Hitsugaya enquired inquisitively._

"_Well…you'll have to try it out for yourself to find out," Hyourinmaru cooed childishly, unwilling to let out the meaning behind the magic word 'ice-cream'._

"…_Do humans squeeze the cream out of the ice to make that?"_

_Hyourinmaru could've sword he felt his stomach curling at the suggested thought. "Where on earth did you get __**that **__idea?"_

"_From the word 'ice-cream'. Hyourinmaru, how the hell can you suggest something that is harmful to ice?!" Hitsugaya exclaimed._

"_We don't even know whether it's harmful to ice or not. I was just suggesting some food!" Hyourinmaru protested. "Maybe you could ask some of your human friends what ice-cream is."_

"_I don't have any __**human **__friends. I practically have very few friends in Soul Society, let alone in the human world," Hitsugaya scoffed._

"_There's Inoue."_

_Uh-oh. Hyourinmaru's weird suggestions again…_

"_She's busy with that lazy butt down there," Hitsugaya stated simply._

"_That big burly Mexican boy?"_

"_I have no idea where the hell he even lives."_

"_The Quincy boy?"_

"_What kind of suggestion is __**that**__?!"_

"_...That shinigami substitute? You know, that orange-haired kid?"_

_Hitsugaya blinked. "Oh. Yo__u mean Kurosaki with the hellish reiatsu. I don't even count him as a comrade, Hyourinmaru."_

"_But he's the only human left on the list. This could be a good chance for you two to have some interaction or something."_

And Hitsugaya Toushirou was left in his own world to think about it.

"…_Oh come on, don't sacrifice your p__oor innocent stomach over this."_

The hungry white-haired captain immediately ran to Ichigo's house.

**＜ブリーチ＞**

Hitsugaya somehow managed to find a way to climb up to Ichigo's window where he sat earlier on that day. He opened it quietly so as to not stir the orange-haired boy awake. As he tried stepping across the sleeping Ichigo, he stopped as he stretched his thin and stumpy leg out. His eyes had trailed down to Ichigo's sleeping figure. The durian-like hair was sticking out from underneath the blanket and Hitsugaya could hear his soft breathing as he slept. It was so calm and so peaceful. Feeling something rather warm creep up to his face, Hitsugaya shook his head rapidly to get rid of the strange feeling. '_Damn…This isn't the first time I've been feeling like this, but it's somehow stronger than all the other times…' _Hitsugaya thought, reminiscing about the times he had felt something familiar to what he had been feeling before as he tried stepping across Ichigo's bed again.

The first time was when he heard that the orange-haired shinigami was part of the ryoka who had infiltrated Seireitei and injured Jidanbou, the one he had taught the city rules to. He was quite concerned about Jidanbou so he decided to pay him a little visit before the captain meeting commenced. To his utmost surprise, he found the giant standing there like he always does every single day, totally unharmed. When he asked him about what had happened earlier on, all the giant did was grin and said, "A very powerful person beat me to it, literally." As soon as Hitsugaya heard that one single sentence about one single person who was so daring enough to challenge Jidanbou, Hitsugaya began to admire whoever that person was for his bravery. Soon, during the captain's meeting about the ryoka invasion, he put two and two together and concluded that the person was the ryoka. The admiration had turned into curiosity…and something else.

The second time was when he learnt about that very same person's bold rescue planned out for Kuchiki Rukia. Apparently, that person had accomplished bankai just to have enough power in order to save Rukia. Hitsugaya felt that it was quite a pity he was too busy with figuring out the reason behind Aizen's (fake) letter to Hinamori at that time, otherwise he'd be able to meet that person face to face. Upon hearing that he managed to save Rukia, however, Hitsugaya couldn't help but feel a slight tugging at his heart…

Hitsugaya shook his head, trying to get the weird memories and feelings out of his head. Since when was he someone who clung onto the past? When he got to the other side of the bed, he tip-toed downstairs to the kitchen, not wanting to wake the strawberry boy up and ask him a stupid question like 'what is ice-cream'. Hitsugaya Toushirou would find out for himself. He didn't need any help at all, period. When he got to the kitchen, he walked up to the fridge, again assuming that ice-cream was kept there due to the word 'ice', and opened the door to the fridge. He looked around and a tub or a box of some kind caught his eye. Blinking in confusion, he took it with both hands and closed the fridge. The words on the box read:

_**おいしい　イチゴ　アイスクリーム！！！**_

_**Oishii Ichigo Aisukuriimu!!!**_

Hitsugaya Toushirou blinked.

…Delicious strawberry ice-cream?

**＜ブリーチ＞**

Kurosaki Ichigo stirred awake as he felt his stomach grumbling in hunger. Sitting up on his bed, he stretched his lazy muscles and scratched his back. He got off the bed, careful to not wake Rukia up. He looked at the clock hanging on the wall. It read 10 pm. Ichigo sighed. His lunatic of a father had gone out and still hadn't returned. Oh well, it wasn't his business anyway, Ichigo figured. He walked down the stairs into the kitchen. He opened the fridge door and looked around for something to eat.

There were chocolate bars and other kinds of sweet cavities that were meant for Rukia and Yuzu. Karin had her favorite snacks bundled up in one corner and wrapped up in a plastic bag with black marker ink clearly labeling the bag with the words screaming 'Karin's Property!' Ichigo decided not to touch anything belonging to his younger sister as his eyes traveled up to look for ice-cream instead. He blinked. '_That's odd…' _Ichigo looked here and there again.

…Where was that tub of strawberry ice-cream he just bought yesterday?

Then he heard it. A metallic clang of a spoon against something hard. Ichigo spun around, expecting to see his crazy father eating the ice-cream but no one was there. At least, that was his initial thought before hearing the sound again, this time with someone licking, possibly, the spoon clean. He crept over to the toilet and pressed his ear against it. Sure enough, the noise was louder. There was someone in the bathroom.

Kurosaki Ichigo kicked the door open with a bang, only to find a startled Hitsugaya Toushirou helping himself to another scoop of heavenly strawberry ice-cream.

**＜ブリーチ＞**

Rukia slid the door of the closet open, having this desire to eat something that would fill her stomach. (A/N: Why am I making so many people hungry?! XD) She walked over to Ichigo's bed, her eyelids half-closed since she was still sleepy. Her eyes widened only when she found Ichigo missing. "…Ichigo?" she asked, hoping that the idiot of a strawberry was playing a trick on her, making her feel worried for no apparent reason. However, he wasn't. "Ichigo!" Rukia called, looking around in a panicked manner. Only when she heard his familiar voice exclaiming something did she decide to check downstairs and look for him.

**＜ブリーチ＞**

"T-T-T-TOUSHIROU?!" Ichigo exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at the white-haired captain who just wanted some peace and quiet to enjoy his ice-cream. Well, it wasn't his, anyway. "So _**you **_were the one who raided my fridge…" Ichigo mumbled softly, but loud enough for the embarrassed Hitsugaya to hear.

Blushing madly, Hitsugaya turned away, trying to focus on the goodness of the ice-cream. "Tell anyone about this and you're _**DEAD**_, Kurosaki…" Hitsugaya warned, his voice firm but waning. "Close the door, dammit!" Hitsugaya exclaimed in an ashamed tone. Ichigo just did what he said and edged closer to Hitsugaya, not really believing what he was seeing. As soon as he noticed the weird stare, Hitsugaya asked, "What're you _**staring **_at, Kurosaki?" He then took another small bite from the ice-cream.

"Um…May I ask…" Hitsugaya blinked from the pleasant but uneasy tone. Since when was Ichigo polite? "…where the hell did you hide the real Toushirou?"

Hitsugaya felt really insulted. He gave Ichigo a kick in the stomach, causing the orange-haired shinigami to fall flat on his butt, and scooped up a huge scoop of ice-cream from the tub, tossing the scoop towards an unsuspecting Ichigo. The ice-cream hit his face with a splat, and the orange strawberry was soon covered with strawberry ice-cream. "You baka," Hitsugaya spat, trying to control his anger. "_**I'm **_Toushirou! I mean, Hitsugaya-_**taichou**_!" Hitsugaya hastily corrected, suppressing his embarrassment by gulping down another scoop of ice-cream. The tub was already nearly void of ice-cream. Scratch that. A few more scoops and Hitsugaya would've been the reason why an entire tub full of ice-cream could vanish overnight.

Wiping the melting ice-cream off his face, Ichigo found his voice to speak. "But…but…I thought you hated sweet stuff! How come you're eating ice-cream in the middle of the night? And how did you enter my house anyway?!"

"I was _**hungry**_, Kurosaki, and I didn't want to wake you up so I helped myself to some ice-cream," Hitsugaya simply stated, taking another scoop of ice-cream.

Ichigo snatched the tub of ice-cream and held it upside-down to exaggerate matters. "_**Some **_ice-cream? Toushirou, you practically finished the entire thing, damn it!"

"Give me that," Hitsugaya scowled, trying to snatch the box back.

"Hell no, unless you give _**me **_back all the ice-cream you just ate!" Ichigo demanded, pointing at Hitsugaya's stomach.

Hitsugaya blushed and folded his arms. "H-how can I, Kurosaki?! Like you said, I ate it! You want it, you're going to have to open up my stomach and take it out!" At that, Hitsugaya nearly threw up at the twisted suggestion and so did Ichigo. The sugar level must be messing up his brain…He could practically hear Hyourinmaru laughing at him crazily.

"No way in hell am I gonna do that to _**you, **_Toushirou," Ichigo's tone of voice had become softer and much more concerned.

Hitsugaya didn't mind the change. "You got any other bright ideas, then?" he challenged, taking the chance to swipe the box and take the second last scoop of ice-cream.

"Oh yeah…" Hitsugaya heard Ichigo whisper in his ear. He felt the warmth from Ichigo's hand brush against the back of his neck, sending weird but nice tingles up his spine. "Yeah I do…" Ichigo whispered again as he held Hitsugaya's chin to his own chin level. Hitsugaya felt his heart thumping against his chest. His usually low body temperature was rising very considerably. It was that strange feeling again. Ichigo brought Hitsugaya's face closer to his, finding himself staring into those beautiful emeralds Hitsugaya had for eyes. Oh, such beautiful and tempting jewels, indeed! Ichigo just couldn't resist them. In fact, he silently admitted, he had fallen prey to those dazzling eyes; he had totally lost his willpower just by laying his own seemingly dull and lifeless eyes on them.

It was particularly one of the reasons why he fell for the icy captain, after all.

Ichigo let go of Hitsugaya's chin, only to realize that the captain must've had such a shock that he fell backwards once Ichigo's grip was released. Ichigo held Hitsugaya back up to support the stunned white-haired child. Hitsugaya himself didn't understand why he felt so weak. One moment he was staring into Ichigo's delicious chocolate brown eyes, and the next, he was staring at the plain and dull white ceiling of the bathroom, and then back again, it was Ichigo's eyes. "Ichigo…" Hitsugaya whispered, not realizing that he had just called Ichigo by his given name.

Ichigo didn't seem to realize it either. He must've been too caught up in admiring the beauty of Hitsugaya Toushirou and his equally beautiful eyes. Ichigo placed a finger on Hitsugaya's lips, hushing the icy captain. "Don't speak, Toushirou. I don't want you to lose the flavor of my ice-cream just yet." Without any other warning, Ichigo leaned in and gave the 10th Division captain a kiss on the lips. Hitsugaya just gave his will to Ichigo and fell limp. Even Hyourinmaru wasn't saying anything to interrupt the two. Their tongues interlocked with each other, and Ichigo could taste the flavor of the strawberry ice-cream. The familiar tingling sensations overwhelmed their bodies as they hugged each other, their passionate kiss not breaking off. They had stayed in that position for a good five minutes before Ichigo lost his breath.

Sensing his breathlessness, Hitsugaya broke the kiss. Both of them took a while to take in sufficient oxygen before Hitsugaya whispered an audible 'Wow…'

Ichigo smiled sheepishly, his cheeks lighting up with a tinge of pink. He moved closer to Hitsugaya and gave him a short peck on the lips again. "Well, Toushirou, I told you I had a better idea of how to get my ice-cream back."

Hitsugaya's lips curled to a smug smirk. "You didn't tell me anything, Kurosaki."

The only thing that interrupted their sweet moment together was the voice of Rukia calling Ichigo's name incessantly. Upon hearing Rukia's voice, Ichigo sighed sadly. "Sorry, Toushirou…but Rukia's calling me."

Hitsugaya felt that tug at his heart again but he didn't want to show it. "I understand…Kurosaki."

"Will I get to see you again?" Ichigo asked with hope burning in his eyes.

Hitsugaya gave him a faint smile. "Only when my duties permit it, Kurosaki."

To bid their farewells, Ichigo leaned in to give Hitsugaya another short kiss before turning and leaving the bathroom. Hitsugaya smiled sadly, and left the Kurosaki household by the window in the bathroom.

**＜ブリーチ＞**

"Where _**were **_you, Ichigo?!" Rukia scolded when she caught sight of Ichigo walking up the staircase all of a sudden.

When Ichigo gave her a surprise by smiling warmly, he replied, "Oh it's nothing. Just…having some ice-cream."

Rukia looked at the open door of the bathroom, arching an eyebrow. "In the _**bathroom**_?"

"What's it to you?" Ichigo snapped, not wanting Rukia to find out his secret. "Anyway, why were you looking for me?"

"Oh, at first, I was pretty hungry, but then you dad came home and…" Rukia shifted her feet. "Well, um…Just come with me upstairs and have a look."

Rukia then walked up the staircase to Yuzu's room. Ichigo was about to follow her when he suddenly remembered that there was one last scoop of ice-cream in the tub. He tip-toed back into the bathroom to clean up the mess and looking down at the final scoop, he couldn't help but pick up the spoon that Hitsugaya used and scoop the ice-cream up. Slowly putting the spoon in his mouth, Ichigo smiled as he calmly ate the scoop of ice-cream.

It…was the sweetest ice-cream scoop…he ever had…

…Even Shirosaki Hichigo had to agree that the kid was just simply _**delicious**_.

**＜ブリーチ＞**

Hitsugaya sighed a contented sigh as he rested upon the tiles of Orihime's rooftop. He had been gone for about half an hour, and it was a _**wonderful **_half an hour without the interruption from his annoying fukutaichou. Thoughts and memories about the literally sweet kiss filled his head. His mind then trailed back to when he was looking for the ice-cream to taste. He then remembered that there were two other tubs of ice-cream other than the strawberry-flavored ice-cream for him to freely choose from. One was a peach-flavored ice-cream and the other was chrysanthemum tea-flavored ice-cream. Hitsugaya tensed up.

_**Why **_strawberry ice-cream and not either of the other two?

The peach ice-cream would personally be his favorite flavor if he were to eat ice-cream every day. It was sweet and with just one bite, one could just taste the goodness of the ice-cream. Peach ice-cream looked innocent at sight and sweet on the inside. Why hadn't he chosen that flavor?

Then he moved on to the chrysanthemum tea-flavored ice-cream. He enjoyed drinking chrysanthemum tea, to be frank, because he didn't like to drink anything else. Milk was deemed too childish for him and sake was definitely out of the question. Humans had actually created chrysanthemum tea-flavored ice-cream. Wouldn't he be the first one so eager as to just try it out when he was at Kurosaki's?

And soon, realization dawned upon him. He smiled a little.

He knew why.

Peach ice-cream might be sweet and innocent, but after taking too much of it, one could get quite sick of it. The more one ate peach ice-cream, the more tasteless it would get. Either that, or the taste would get too strong for one to handle. Chrysanthemum tea ice-cream was too bland for his taste anyway. If he were to choose to live on only one flavor of ice-cream, he would lose his sense of taste if he were to choose chrysanthemum tea-ice cream. Or worse, he might just go bonkers if he were to live _**only **_on that kind of ice-cream.

However...Strawberry ice-cream…was _**perfect.**_

It was sweet, and the taste would linger on forever. It gave a very lasting impression. The more one ate, the more one would want some more and more strawberry ice-cream. It was one of the three most popular flavors with vanilla and chocolate. Strawberry ice-cream never tasted bland, and neither did it lose its taste over gradual time. It could be deemed the best ice-cream in the world, if he had a choice.

Yes…_**That **_was why.

As Hitsugaya Toushirou heard the two girls squealing in delight over the ice-cream they were feasting on, he closed his eyes silently, letting the moonbeam shine on him as he remembered the ever-so sweet succulent taste of perfect strawberry ice-cream.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A/N: So what do you think? That's my first go at shounen ai/yaoi, whichever you prefer to call it. By the way, do any of you get the meaning behind the comparison between the three different flavors of ice-cream? (smiles hopefully) Well? Do you? And if you're wondering, I made up chrysanthemum tea-flavored ice-cream. I don't know if there's even such a flavor. I just made it up for the sake of the comparison. (grins sheepishly) And I do know for a fact that eating ice-cream on an empty stomach is bad for health. XD

And those paragraphs on Hitsugaya thinking about his feelings towards Ichigo…Well, I'm planning to do a short fic on that with two different versions. One through Hitsugaya's perspective and the other through Ichigo's perspective.

By the way, I really ate momo (peach) ice-cream before. The more I ate, the more I can't taste it anymore and so, the more I felt like throwing up. I left all the rest of the ice-cream scoop (yes, one _**scoop**_) for my aunt to eat. XD

That'll be all. (smiles) I hope you've enjoyed Strawberry Ice-cream! _Ja ne!_

**Reflect the truth of which you see**

**Tsuki-no-Kurokage**


	2. Vanilla and Berries

Author's Note: I intended to re-write this as an AU, to be frank…

Well…you didn't expect this to become a twoshot, did you? I didn't expect it to be either. Until I ate that triple scoop ice-cream, of course.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything concerning Bleach or its affiliated characters.

* * *

Grabbing a random piece of wet rag from nearby, he wiped the base and the interior of the cup clean, humming a little ditty to himself as he did so. Giving the glass cup a little push, it slid across the clean metal table and stopped right in front of the pile of other cups on the table. He stretched his lazy muscles and a loud sigh escaped his lips which slowly curled to a relieved smile. "Well, that's the last of 'em," he commented before he walked out of the kitchen and out into the small shop he opened single-handedly. Well, technically, it wasn't really 'single-handedly', so as to speak; his father provided him all the financial assistance and it was his younger sister who provided all the sweet delicious goods. All he did was wiping the crockery and cleaning the place; otherwise he would be taking orders and serving the people.

He glanced at his watch. Ah, it was near sundown. He figured that there wouldn't be any customers at all after sundown, and decided to close his shop for the day. Of course, it had happened before and he regretted staying up all night past two in the morning. The next day at school, he slept during class and had trouble with the principal straight away. Cringe.

"As soon as I am done wiping the stupid floor, I'll go home and get ready for the even more stupid test tomorrow," he mumbled the complaint to himself as he grabbed the mop and filled the bucket with water, adding soap to the water and mixed it before scrubbing the floor half-heartedly. The silent movement of the continuous mopping of the floor went on till it was about late at night; he seemed to be too caught up in something to notice that he had mopped the exact same spot for the past one hour or so – and he still had the rest of the shop left for him to mop.

And then, it happened.

The familiar tingle down his spine told his natural protective instinct to go out there and slay the hollow before it could get to his family for the tenth time this week…and it wasn't even Tuesday, for goodness sake. Grabbing the shinigami badge he kept safely in his pocket, he pressed it against his chest, forcing his shinigami self out of his human body. Kurosaki Ichigo dashed out of the shop, but not before hanging the sign that said 'closed' and then shunpo-ed off to his destination.

To his dismay, it was an Adjuchas that came this time round. Its annoying cero blasts were getting on Ichigo's nerves, but at least he had the speed advantage. Unsheathing Zangetsu, he brought up the large butter knife and gave his feet a little push for him to use shunpo. High in the air, right behind the unsuspecting hollow, he quickly brought the blade of Zangetsu down and purified it in less than three seconds. The pained, empty howl echoed in the distance before the second-class Menos dissipated into nothingness. Placing Zangetsu on his back, he turned to leave and get to his shop as soon as possible, when another disturbance in reiatsu caught his attention.

Hand slowly reaching up for Zangetsu's hilt, but not unsheathing his wise partner, the strawberry glanced around suspiciously. The reiatsu was still thick in the air, but he hadn't the capability to pinpoint exactly where and whose reiatsu it was. He had a vague idea, having had to sense the reiatsu for a very long time now, but he wasn't one hundred percent sure. It sent cold shivers down his spine and his hair stood on all ends. Frost began to form on his arms, and snow fell from the blackened skies. Blinking in curiosity, he released his grip on Zangetsu's hilt and reached out to touch the delicate white state of water. It melted as soon as it came into contact with his fingers as they slowly curled into a fist, as if embracing the water in his hand. Closing his eyes, his fist loosened and a sigh found its way out of his mouth before he even realized that he had given out a rather depressed sigh.

"…Toushirou…are you there?"

He hadn't really expected a reply that came as soon as the question was asked.

"…Kurosaki?"

Eyelids fluttered open, revealing bright chocolate brown eyes with a burning intensity to search in the delicate field of snow for the familiar tuft of white marshmallow-like hair. The orange strawberry took the first step out into the area where there was the most snow and rather wintry winds, eyes scanning the place for the small lithe body he wanted to adore and pull into an embrace. It didn't take him very long to find the glaring white hair and the standard shihakushou standing in the midst of heavy snow with the winds playing around with his hair.

He didn't want to say it, in case his favorite little taichou would kill him, but Toushirou looked…beautiful in the snow. It wasn't the first time he had seen the white-haired prodigy in the snow, but the first time that he did wasn't a good time at all. Seeing the 10th Division captain lying unconscious on the grass in the forest with the dainty balls of snow dancing around their master…the pained expression didn't help either.

But still, he wouldn't deny that snow and the icy captain were a perfect match with each other. His naturally white hair blended well with the snow and he would never feel cold, no matter how harsh winter could be. Ichigo was so awed by the drop-dead beautiful child genius standing in the midst of heavy snow caused by the great fluctuation in the thick and icy reiatsu that he hadn't realized Hitsugaya turning around to face him. The emerald orbs further mesmerized him and he was still too much of a drooling idiot to notice Hitsugaya right in front of him in the next moment, yelling 'oi' as loudly as he could to snap the other out of his trance.

Hitsugaya sighed drearily and couldn't restrain himself from what he did next.

Raising his left leg off the ground, he swung it as lightly as he could and gave Ichigo a kick on the side, finally succeeding in getting Ichigo's consciousness back. The strawberry knelt on the snow, taking in sharp intakes of whatever oxygen was available. "Oi, whaddja do _**that **_for, Toushirou?! It hurt!"

Hitsugaya resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "It was only a small kick, Kurosaki," he commented dryly before staring at the other. "And may I ask what are you doing here?"

Ichigo stood up and dusted the snow off of his shihakushou, his left hand rubbing his sore right arm. "Hey, I should be the one asking you that. What're you doing here, Toushirou? Shouldn't you be in Soul Society chasing Rangiku-san or something?"

Twitch. "Matsumoto is doing the paperwork as we speak, and-" He rose a silvery white eyebrow when he saw Ichigo cover his mouth and shaking like as if it were damn cold wherever they were. "…What are you laughing about?"

In his fit of laughter, Ichigo managed to mutter out a strained, "No, no, pshehehehe, I mean, Rangiku-san -choke- is doing paperwork?!"

"…Yes. And…?"

The sudden drip of venom in Hitsugaya's voice told him to stop laughing straight away. Clearing his throat, Ichigo lightly mentally punched himself for bursting out in laughter like that in front of the white-haired taichou. "…Nothin'. So, what are you doing here, Toushirou?"

Mesmerizing emerald orbs gave him a cold, hard stare before the owner of said eyes replied icily, "Yamamoto-soutaichou sent me here. He didn't say for what reason; he just told me to come here." With a small shrug, he continued, "I suppose it's to be on the lookout for any of the escaped Espada from Aizen's army."

"Ah," he heaved, the puff of coiling white mist moving up into the air. Well, Hitsugaya might not know, but as much as Ichigo was a total idiot in the head, he had an idea of what the old man was trying to do. "I haven't seen you for three months too. What happened?"

The snow oddly began to fall more heavily.

"I…needed some time alone."

"I see."

The wall of silence constructed itself between the two of them. The orange-haired shinigami substitute glanced down at his personal favorite out of the Gotei 13, giving him a long, hard stare. Hitsugaya neither looked up nor said anything else and kept his eyes on the ground, fingers subconsciously curling themselves and digging their nails into the soft fabric of the folded haori in his hands. Ichigo hadn't even noticed that the other wasn't wearing the haori since the very beginning. Hitsugaya suddenly showing up in the material world was confusing enough; but now he wasn't even wearing his haori.

'…_So, he still hasn't gotten over it, huh.'_

Oh dammit, it's that face. It's that emo face.

As much as it would be greatly appealing to just cuddle his little winter child and assure him that everything would be ok, it was quite a depressing sight to witness. It wasn't often Ichigo had seen Hitsugaya's frown so deeply etched into his features, but it was even more seldom to look at him hug his haori and giving a small tremble like as if he were clinging onto his last flame of life. Ichigo wondered if Hitsugaya was even aware that he was letting out loose signs of him still depressed over what happened three months ago.

"Toushirou…"

Unfortunately, the boy genius had somehow predicted that Ichigo would try all means to counsel him and decided to cut him off, "Kurosaki, remember when I came into the human world with Matsumoto and the others for the Arrancar invasion?"

The orange-haired strawberry gave a loud mental sigh at the back of his head. "Yeah?"

"I was wondering if you still have the dessert you humans like to consume. I…" He paused before continuing, "I'd like to…have some."

Ichigo's chest seemed to have heaved. "You mean ice-cream." Seeing the distressed captain of the 10th Division nod his head, he tried to sound as cheerful and loud as possible to lighten up the atmosphere and exclaimed, "Ah, you should have said so sooner, Toushirou! Come on, you can have all the ice-cream you want."

At this, another eyebrow rose. "What do you mean have all that I want? It's not like I like it that much to eat it all…" A vein instantly popped from his forehead. "And it's _**not **_Toushirou! It's Hitsugaya-taichou!"

Ichigo gave a light-hearted chuckle as he stretched out and grabbed Hitsugaya's hand before the white-haired captain could object to the holding of hands. He neither flinched nor complained about the iciness from the small dainty hand sinking into his skin and dragged him back to his shop like a father bringing his son to a carnival. Hitsugaya couldn't help but allow himself to pout a little when he struggled to wriggle his hand free and ended up failing to do so; that doofus sure knew how to hold hands. And that idiotic grin on his face screamed 'You lose, Toushirou!' all over; he could just hear it in his head.

The former ryoka knew that they could both just use shunpo to get to his shop more quickly, but he wanted to hold the other's hand for a longer period of time. Apparently Hitsugaya was aware that shunpo could help both of them get to the ice-cream – wherever it was – more rapidly than walking in the snow. But of course, both of them subconsciously felt more comfortable walking slowly like this. Ichigo was screaming with euphoria in his mind and driving Zangetsu and Hichigo insane, but Hitsugaya was just keeping it plain and quiet; in fact, it was Hyourinmaru's constant roaring that got on his nerves when it should be the other way round, other than the roaring part.

Occasionally, the two would glance at each other rather shyly before looking at something else faster than you can sing the sitting-in-the-tree song with their names inserted in. Other times, they would be looking at the interlocked fingers and feeling the warmth – or coldness – from the other's palm. The orange strawberry was biting his lower lip and giving a poor attempt to hide the humongous blush that was starting to appear on his face while the white marshmallow was still hugging his haori close to his chest but covered the lower half of his face with it. It was obvious who the most successful one in hiding his crimson flush was. Hitsugaya hadn't even noticed that although he was practically glaring at every single thing he saw – not even sparing the innocent little pebbles on the ground of his infamous death glares – he was, actually, smiling behind the curtains of the soft white fabric of his haori. It was just a little smile, yes, but it was still a smile all the same.

It felt like as if time had frozen them in place and flew by quickly at the exact same time. They had reached the shop sooner than both of them had expected. Ichigo gave a small glance at their hands and released Hitsugaya's slim and slender fingers that gave him a tickle as he did so, pushing the door open with both of his hands. "Well, uh…come on in," he offered, trying to sound as polite as possible.

"…Are you sure this is alright?" Hitsugaya asked, eyeing the shop suspiciously. "No one's tending to the shop and there are no customers…"

"Well, just so you know, Toushirou, the customer is the one who isn't sure whether or not this place is safe, and the owner of this shop is standing right in front of the customer," Ichigo replied with a toothy grin. Messing around with his favorite little taichou was a fun pastime.

To his expectation, Hitsugaya gave a slight twitch of the eyebrow. "Why would someone like you even bother opening up an ice-cream parlor?"

Ah, so the countless tubs of ice-cream hidden in the kitchen caught his eye, eh? One Kurosaki Ichigo had to admit; that cheeky lil' kid was damn sharp, both in intuition and eyes.

With a simple shrug of the shoulders, he replied, "Just for the fun of it, I guess."

Hitsugaya rolled his eyes. "How typical."

"Well, you know me," Ichigo commented, feeling the numbness of his arms from keeping the door open for so long. "So come on in, Toushirou. Make yourself at home. I'll be back with your ice-cream as soon as possible."

"Hn."

Hitsugaya entered the ice-cream parlor that his lover opened and eyed the high-seating cushion chair situated right in front of the counter. The small tables and ordinary chairs didn't seem to appeal to him, apparently, as he made his way towards the high chair and tried to sit on it. Tried. And wasn't successful, obviously. Ichigo was stifling his laughter at the adorable sight of his white-haired boyfriend straining to push himself up to reach the cushiony seat and eventually sliding back down to the floor repetitively. Hitsugaya had a bad feeling in his gut that the protector was mentally laughing at his expense and was sending him telepathic glares on top of death glares in hopes of getting him to stop.

The funny scratchy humanoid sounds made from stifling of laughter did _**not **_ease his inner volcano.

Ichigo coughed and deliberately let out a deep contented sigh as he walked over and placed his hands on Hitsugaya's waist, stunning the other so badly that he froze in place and his eyes widened with a deep crimson blush forming on his face. The strawberry smirked inwardly as he carried Hitsugaya up as if he were the mother of a newborn baby and gently placed the child-like wonder on the most comfortable seat that could be found in the entire ice-cream parlor. "There now, how's that?" he asked smoothly, running his hair through Hitsugaya's fluffy tuft of pure white hair.

The blush refused to leave his face no matter how hard he willed it to go away. "…Much better, a_-arigatou_."

Oh holy shit, did he just stammer?

"No problem, Toushirou. Now, wait here. I'll bring you your ice-cream," Ichigo instructed, walking away into the kitchen.

Hitsugaya lightly placed his hands on the counter, staring at his fingers that were trembling with excitement. He closed his eyes with a soft hiss and curled them into a tight clenched fist. Why was he feeling this way? He had never felt so messed up before. Going to Kurosaki's house during patrol was bad enough…but sharing that intimacy with the strawberry ryoka was even more undignified. Sure, he was certain that he didn't mind it, but after the winter war and that matter with Kusaka…

…Kusaka…

"_Ahh, it's been a long time…Toushirou."_

A sigh escaped his lips before he could contain it. The memories were flooding his brain like blood rushing to his head. If Kusaka had never re-appeared in his life, he'd probably never have had the need to experience the biggest dilemma of his life. Memories consisting of both joy and sorrow were not the only things that resurfaced, and he knew it. He knew it, dammit. Along with the memories he thought he had kept buried within himself for so long, the illicit taboo of the rush of feelings resurfaced as well.

He couldn't control his emotions, but he could at least restrain himself from doing anything stupid. Taking deep breaths never failed to calm him down, but his reiatsu was going crazy. His mind was so clouded by his own reiatsu that he didn't notice Ichigo's when he came closer, two cups of ice-cream in hand. "Toushirou…" he called, placing the cups down on the counter gently. "Toushirou! Toushirou, wake up!"

Teal eyes snapped open at the loud call, and when Ichigo meant 'wake up', he didn't mean the literal waking up. Hitsugaya was panting but his wheezes were soft and slightly unnoticeable. He stared, boring his eyes into Ichigo's intense ones before he looked at the two cups of ice-cream laid out in front of him. "…Kurosaki, I know you think I like ice-cream, but why give me two cups?"

"Hey, you were the one who ate an entire tub last time, bastard," Ichigo joked with a heavy heart as he pulled a stool closer to him and settled down in a comfortable position. "I'm not asking you to eat both cups. I want you to choose between these two cups, is all."

Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow. "Choose?" He glanced down at the respective flavors of the ice-cream and paused for a while before continuing, "Why ask me to choose, Kurosaki?"

"Just choose. And look closer."

That was what exactly Hitsugaya did: look closer.

And he noticed something undesirably unexpected.

To his left, there were two scoops of ice-cream; one vanilla and the other, strawberry. When he glanced to his right, there were two scoops of ice-cream as well, but something was different. One scoop was still vanilla, but along with it was a blueberry ice-cream scoop. He knew exactly what it meant, and he knew exactly what Ichigo wanted him to do. But he didn't want to.

"…Is this really necessary?"

"Yes, dammit," Ichigo impatiently answered, not trying to sound mean. "Look, I know you don't want to, but I've seen you suffer for long enough. It's been three months, Toushirou, and you're still like this. I thought you'll be able to get over it but I guess I was wrong." He gave both cups a light tap and moved them closer towards his distressed lover, handing him a long metal spoon. "It's damn difficult for you, I understand. But you can't run away from your problems forever, Toushirou. You have to face 'em someday."

Hitsugaya looked at the glistening steel in the shape of the spoon in front of him, and gave a sigh as he closed his eyes. Ichigo felt the reiatsu level going down as the white-haired captain reached out and grabbed the spoon before emerald eyes kept moving back and forth from the strawberry ice-cream to the blueberry ice-cream.

What Ichigo said is right; he can't escape his problems, especially if they were caused from the past. It would only catch up to him and give him even more problems than before. He had already been badly torn with guilt from before; facing this problem of having had to choose between two separate flavors that were, in a way, similar was somewhat taxing even for him.

Strawberries grow best in cold places. They taste at their best when the season is cold.

Blueberries grow best in the season of summer-autumn. The season is moderate, and refreshing for the soul.

Both of them are sweet, and are very good for health. They are fresh and ripe; having had been made into ice-cream was a marvelous idea.

If given to someone like him, Hitsugaya would really don't know which to choose. He had eaten strawberry ice-cream before and he, dare he say it, enjoyed it thoroughly. But introducing another flavor of ice-cream would mean big competition, and Hitsugaya was the judge that would determine the final outcome of the match between strawberries and blueberries. It wasn't about the ice-cream anymore.

Kusaka was a mistake. A mistake that his oversight had caused. He wouldn't have turned so desperately insane if it wasn't for the fact that they both had the same zanpakutou; Hitsugaya still deeply blamed himself for his supposed death all those years ago. He shouldn't have won the fight. He shouldn't have. Kusaka wouldn't have to suffer if he had been the one who won. Sometimes, though, Hitsugaya would wonder to himself that if he had truly been the one who lost and wound up in Hueco Mundo instead…would he end up like Kusaka as well? Would he end up getting killed by his own friend as well?

…Would he even get the chance to meet and understand Kurosaki if that were the case?

Hitsugaya opened his eyes and heaved the sigh he held suppressed in his chest. Kusaka's death was a trauma for him, but he had to get over it someday. And…if it weren't for that fight…he wouldn't be able to meet Ichigo. Even if they were to meet for the first time, it would be in the battlefield, and they would fight to the death and never understand each other so well. Did fate want the two stubborn oxen to meet? Did it…?

If so…he shouldn't be sad anymore.

'_Arigatou…Kusaka.'_

He leaned in closer to the cup of ice-cream, pressing the metal spoon into the scoop of ice-cream he had chosen.

'_And arigatou…Ichigo.'_

Glancing at a smiling and relieved substitute shinigami standing in front of him, he allowed himself to smile as well before he brought the bit of strawberry ice-cream to his lips.

* * *

I had this idea for about two weeks or so, but couldn't find the time to do so. Stupid homework.

Anyway, what do you think? Feedback is very much appreciated. Inspiration came from eating a triple scoop ice-cream. I unintentionally chose blueberry along with strawberry and vanilla, and when I was asking my dad which was nicer (blueberry or strawberry) he said that they're both equally nice and even said that berries are very good for health. And poof, I interpret Kusaka as blueberry ice-cream. And I love the threesome even more ever since.


	3. Special

_...Yeah, you probably never thought I would add another to this story any longer. Well, the reason is this. I went to the same shop a few days ago, hoping to get some blueberry ice-cream because I was feeling quite stressed and needed something sweet, but the shop told me they no longer serve blueberry ice-cream. I felt my heart literally sink. That was the only shop which had the best blueberry ice-cream I've ever eaten, and now it's gone. Regretfully, I may never find another shop which has blueberry ice-cream of the same smoothness and taste, thus this fic is born. I think you know what I'm getting at, so I shall just shut up and let you enjoy this short oneshot =)_

_Please note: all flashbacks are non-canon except for Hitsu's and Kusa's promise near the end. It's from the D-Dust drama cd, so I suppose it's...cd-canon?_

* * *

**Strawberry Ice-Cream Special**

* * *

Silently, he trudged through the snow.

Occasionally, he would subconsciously kick away the snow covering his path, but otherwise, he would simply ignore it and keep walking forward.

When someone of lower rank bowed before him, he gave no reply; when Matsumoto came running to the office apologising, he gave her the shock of her life when he did not probe into the matter any further; when his concerned colleague of long, flowing hair of white visited him in bed and asked after his welfare, he gave one-word sentences and the cold shoulder. Once everyone was out of the way, he sat up, walking past his lieutenant as stealthily as possible, although he had no intention of that sort. All Hitsugaya could do was keep walking forward, and that was what he did.

He walked.

It was the harsh season of winter. The blizzards in Soul Society were considered to be ten times as strong as the ones in the mortal world as inhabitants possessing ice cold reiatsu were scattered everywhere, but concentrated in Seireitei. This brought hell up ten levels and back down again, and up and down, and up and down...

Yamamoto spoke nothing about the exceptionally cold winter this year. He would dismiss Mayuri before said scientist would give his monthly report on the weather and his own deductions about it. The old captain knew, and understood, that Kurotsuchi would be more than pleased to give a talk on why this year was particularly freezing, but Yamamoto would have none of that while the youngest captain was present. The following day, Hitsugaya came to his office, requesting a day off. It was just that brief, but the soutaichou granted him the permission. He received no gratitude, but he nodded all the same with a rare smile of bitterness on his face which complemented the scars more than the wrinkles.

And in this harsh season of winter, the snow was overwhelming. It drowned the pebbles and soil, leaving the shinigami unable to carry out their daily training. Hitsugaya was more than merely grateful for that as he continued walking.

It didn't surprise him to hear bells ringing in the distance, coupled with enthusiastic roars and piercing slashes of cold steel. Orbs of emerald green spotted delicate footsteps along the snow paired with heavy indents of geta; if the child-like captain wasn't so out of it, he would at least give a dry smile once he heard a familiar voice screaming in agony at a sparring partner who allegedly and accidentally caused a bleeding cut on the face. Madarame didn't sound apologetic in the least, which made Ayasegawa contribute more to the background noise. Listening to the Eleventh Division training only brought more load to the burdened heart of one young icy captain, so he subconsciously picked up the pace, leaving Madarame at the expense of his narcissistic, normally cool-headed friend. Normally.

_"Ne, Toushirou, have you thought about which division you'd want to go to after graduation?"_

Hitsugaya tried not to bite into his own lip at the memory as the snow mercilessly fell in greater quantity.

_"Isn't our graduation exam meant as a way to investigate which division we are most suited for? Of course I'll go with whichever the results are."_

_"Ah, you're right... But, don't you have any ideal division?"_

_"Ideal...?"_

He stood on top of a snowy hill and looked beyond. Though relatively shorter than most shinigami, the white-haired captain was able to spot the elusive stones standing upright, allowing accretion of snow on the front side. Quietly, he slid down the gentle slope and edged his way towards the cemetery.

_"I don't have any. Never cared about that. How about you, Kusaka?"_

_A wide, toothy grin stretched across his friend's face. "Of course I'll go wherever you go, Toushirou! That way, we can remain friends!"_

_"Idiot. Who said being in different divisions matt--"_

_"It does matter, Toushirou." Kusaka, who has stopped smiling, put on a grieve look. "Various divisions have their own duties and responsibilities. You know that. If we're split into different divisions, we'll be doing different kinds of work and we won't have much time with each other."_

_"Kusaka..."_

_"Haven't you heard? Most shinigami lose touch with each other after being split into different divisions. If we are split up, then..."_

_"...You really are the most idiotic idiot I've ever come across, Kusaka. Since when are we like 'most shinigami' anyway?"_

_The laughter which burst from Kusaka's lips would resonate in his mind for all eternity. "Your 'prodigy confidence' is kicking in again, Toushirou."_

_"...Shut up."_

The first year always hit him hard, despite his inner protests. It wasn't like he hadn't encountered death before; he wasn't afraid of it when he saw lifeless bodies piling up and knew he would be next in line. He would remember Grandmother's words about everyone coming face-to-face with death someday, and that it was just a matter of time before her own time would come. He and Hinamori had grown up in that sort of environment, but only he was the one who understood.

Hitsugaya had witnessed many deaths in his life as a shinigami, and Kusaka's double deaths were no longer an exception. What the young prodigy, even with all of his knowledge and level of comprehension, could not understand was why Kusaka's were particularly troubling for him. The simple reason of them being the best of friends was not enough to answer his question. In fact, the captain would not accept it as a form of answer. It had no link whatsoever to his present inner turmoil - he called it that, because Matsumoto called it that, and that was the first time he was at a loss of words to find a better form of description.

Brushing away the snow, the snowy-haired taichou ran his tiny hand over the words engraved on the tombstone. A week ago, he had made a seemingly bold request during the regular captain meeting whilst everyone else was present. Soifon and Komamura, in particular, were the first to object and questioned Hitsugaya's motive in making that request, but Yamamoto had silenced all of them and gave his consent.

"...There aren't vacancies for any higher ranks but, knowing an idiot like you, you'd settle for anything as long as we are in the same division, Kusaka," he spoke for the first time that day. "...I'll make sure no one else takes over the Tenth Seat."

When he could no longer find anything else to say, he silently stood up and began making his way back to his office.

_"I know! Why don't we do it this way?" Kusaka suddenly exclaimed in the midst of their discussion after an ordinary spar during their break on yet another ordinary day. "If you become a taichou, then I'll be your fukutaichou! Likewise, if I become a taichou, you'll become my fukutaichou! How does that sound?"_

_"What!?"_

_"What do you think? Doesn't it sound interesting~?"_

"I knew you'd be here, Toushirou," the familiar voice snapped him back to reality. Hitsugaya turned to look at the towering figure walking towards him, and warily eyeing the box in the other's arms. He noticed the scarlet liquid dripping onto the white grounds, but made no comment. "Know you're not in any mood to ask, so I'll just tell you. Rangiku-san told me that it's your off day today. Saw her getting drunk by the atmosphere in the bar. No, she did not ask for any sake today, so stop it with your frowning. Not like it's a sin to drink or anything."

"...Tch," the shorter muttered under his breath. "What are you doing here, Kurosaki? I see no reason for you to be here."

Ichigo tossed a thumb behind him, pointing in the direction of the Eleventh Division barracks. "At first I came to look for you. I swear, though, Kenpachi and Ikkaku are totally on high today. Chased me all around Seireitei. So, after a quick duel with them, I came here to look for you. Don't look at me like that, Toushirou, of course I know what day it is today. Why else do you think I came here in the first place?"

"I suppose you came...because of that?"

The shinigami daikou nodded curtly, passing the box over to Hitsugaya. "I know you dropped by this morning to look for this."

Emerald eyes widened sharply. "Where did you find that?" the snowy captain asked quickly, resisting the urge to grab it from Kurosaki's hands.

After letting the ice-cream tub land softly in Toushirou's petite arms, Ichigo stepped back and watched as the former stare almost blankly at it. "I...kept it in the freezer. It was the first flavour to come in yesterday, but turns out that it's the only tub, too. I waited for a bloody long time before they called and told me that they don't sell the flavour anymore, that the tub they sent over will be the last one. I got damn pissed, then I remembered what day it is today, so...I kinda kept it. I didn't think you'd drop by first thing in the morning, though." Hitsugaya almost swore Kurosaki was giving a white lie, and indeed, after a small round of questioning, the orange-haired shinigami revealed that he 'got so pissed that he tossed the telephone out of the window, closed the shop down for the day, and demanded every single tub of blueberry ice-cream from every ice-cream shop he could find'.

He was grateful, to a certain extent, though. But he hadn't said 'thank you' or expressed any gratitude to the strawberry.

The surprising thing is, Kurosaki actually understood (for once).

"...Kurosaki, before you leave, I'd like to ask you something."

"Eh? What is it, Toushirou?"

White brows knitted together tightly. "...Forget it." He caught a glimpse at the ice-cream tub once more, and nodded. "I understand now. You may go, Kurosaki."

An orange brow was raised, but all Ichigo did was shrug, waved a goodbye, and he was gone.

_"...Kusaka..."_

_"It's a promise."_

_"...Heh. I understand."_

* * *

And indeed, Hitsugaya understood.

He returned to normal the following day, surprising Matsumoto out of the bar and stunning her to the extent that she would be more than willing to complete her share of the paperwork. Yamamoto had raised a question concerning his welfare, but he dismissed it as quickly as it was asked. Politely, of course. The soutaichou knew, and nodded in understanding. From then on, Hitsugaya had surprised even the battle-loving, bloodthirsty Zaraki Kenpachi when the latter witnessed the former crushing a watermelon with his bare hands and munching down as if it was nobody's business. Hinamori claimed it was die-hard bad habit of his since young, though.

When asked, the icy captain answered, "This is how it should be."

He would elaborate when he was alone, mulling in his room, and conversing with Hyourinmaru. "Kusaka would wish for this." And the dragon would nod.

Now he knew why he had felt that much hurt and pain when he pierced his friend with the blade of the zanpakutou they shared. It had been neither guilt nor sadness, the normal feelings someone might have after a loved one passes on. No, it was different. He wasn't guilty, and he wasn't as depressed as everyone made it out to be; he wasn't cold or heartless or anything akin to that.

Years ago, and even recently, Kusaka had been a part of his life. His memories of his academic life only contained the violet-haired youth he considered his best friend, and like the young man Hitsugaya had hoped for a future where they would both lead a division together, regardless of who was eventually in charge.

The same Kusaka is now out of his life for good. There was no more ouin that could bring him back from the spiritual particles surrounding Soul Society; Yamamoto-soutaichou had made sure of that. He pulled some strings, and concluded that Kusaka Soujirou would cease to exist. Academic records were allegedly burned to ashes by Ryuujin Jakka, while the rule about two shinigami sharing the same zanpakutou became well-known throughout Seireitei.

Kusaka is no longer part of Hitsugaya's life. There is nothing else he can do about it, except keep on living the way Kusaka would want to see him live. But precisely because there is nothing else he can do about it, he is pained to this extent. But he can't, and won't, throw a tantrum about it any longer. There are more important matters to tend to at hand, and that is what he intends to do with the time he has now.

* * *

When Ichigo dropped by, he stole a glance at the taichou silently picking up a silver spoon and placing it in his mouth, seemingly enjoying the taste of the blueberry ice-cream.

A dry smile found its way on Ichigo's face as he placed the tub of strawberry ice-cream by the door, and shunpo-ed away.


End file.
